First Teaser Trailer for Frozen 2 Puts Elsa in a Dark Place

The first teaser trailer for Frozen 2, the sequel to 2013’s megahit (it made about $1.3bn from a budget of $150 million) has been released.

This has led to two things: frenzied Twitter speculation about what the hints could mean, and lots of tired jokes about how Disney can’t “let go” of the franchise.

A couple of things seem pretty certain though. One, this is going to be a very different film to the first Frozen, and two, we’re not in Arandelle anymore.

Of all the scenes in the new teaser, it’s the opening that endures in the mind. A grim-faced Elsa facing down crashing waves on a dark, stormy beach, her hair in a ponytail as she attempts to freeze and surf over the tower blocks of spume in her path. It’s a stunning, bleakly beautiful scene, the vibrant turquoise impacts of her magic contrasting sharply with the muted palette of her marine nemesis.

Things then get a little lighter and distinctly autumnal, if Frozen felt like a definitive winter movie, then Frozen 2 looks like it might do the same for the fall. This is fitting, given its scheduled November release date. To this end, there are a few shots of reindeer galloping along carpets of red and yellow leaves, and our five heroes (Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf the snowman and Sven the reindeer) looking out over a vast autumnal forest. There’s also a brief shot of Anna looking out from her balcony at a vast array of floating diamonds, a mischievous non-sequitur that already has the internet ablaze with theories.

Frozen 2 looks like it may be a far more ambitious sequel than we expected, perhaps explaining why it’s taken six years to come to fruition. Finally, some eagle-eyed/hopeful viewers are convinced they’ve spotted Elsa’s girlfriend in the new teaser and if Disney do finally take the step of giving one of their princesses a female love interest, this could be a truly historic movie.

Frozen 2 is expected to hit cinema screens worldwide on November 22 2019.